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Moreland puts hamstring issues behind him

Moreland puts hamstring issues behind him

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070511 Mitch Moreland

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CHICAGO -- Mitch Moreland has had issues with his right hamstring on more than one occasion this year, but the first baseman, who was back in the lineup Friday after missing Thursday's game, said the latest flare up is nothing serious.

And judging from his performance Friday night, he wasn't lying.

Moreland recorded his third career multi-home run game and tallied a career-high-tying five RBIs to lead the Rangers over the White Sox, 7-4. He's now 9-for-16 with two home runs and nine RBIs in his past four games and is hitting .280 with 16 home runs and 46 RBIs on the season.

"He was huge. Real huge," said Texas manager Ron Washington. "He's making better contact and not missing his pitches right now when they're giving it to him. I don't think he's trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark, I just think that's what happens. He can hit the baseball as well as anyone."

Washington said that keeping Moreland out of the field Friday night was simply a precautionary measure, and he didn't say when he would resume first-base duties. Moreland had similar soreness in his left hamstring that limited him to one pinch-hit at-bat in the Rangers' two-game trip to Chicago on May 16-17.

The skipper admitted that he also wants to be more careful with Moreland because of the amount of other injuries the team has battled through this season, including the current DL stints of Andres Blanco and Adrian Beltre, who is also dealing with hamstring problems.

"It's something that he's been managing, but once again, we've been losing people," Washington said. "I don't want to lose him. I want to make sure that it's to the point where he can manage it."